Hello, readers. After a very long break, I am delighted to resume writing my posts. I don’t really have any excuses for my prolonged silence. Yes, I’ve been occupied with various projects and studies, but, at the end of the day, the truth is that I succumbed to procrastination on a few writing days. Those days turned into weeks, which eventually turned into months…

I suspect that I’m not in the minority, and I must say that this experience has given me insight into how some blogs come to an end. Drawing a comparison to running, it felt like I stopped when I shouldn’t have, as resuming my writing feels more tiring and painful than pushing through those extra miles to reach a goal (although I wouldn’t know how to define a goal, especially when it comes to this blog).

The tendency of my posts has been to share insights and feedback from the qualifications and courses I have been taking. As a professional working in the financial industry, I firmly believe that in order to thrive in the current job market, keeping up with relevant skills is essential for job stability, especially in today’s landscape. If you’ve read some of my past posts, you might recall that I’m in the midst of studying for a few qualifications/exams, so in the upcoming weeks, I also intend to share some updates. That said, as I write these words, I’m contemplating the overall direction of this blog and I’m open to suggestions.

Truth be told, much of my time in the past months has been spent on Toastmasters. For those of you who haven’t heard of this organization, I wrote a brief post about it in the past. Earlier in my career, I focused heavily on my technical skills, but as I’ve gained more experience, I’ve realized that certain skills are required to make the leap to upper management. So, this ‘hobby’ has been a great place for me to learn and experiment. I have many things to write about my learnings from Toastmasters, so I will plan to add separate posts.

As a career strategy, I’m currently focused on staying up to date and continuing to work on my technical skills. However, at the same time, I’m eager to learn more about myself and sharpen my leadership skills. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers for my next posts, but here are some key lessons I’ve learned from Toastmasters:

(1) I’m a chronic procrastinator. Just like going to the gym, I feel the need to maintain a routine. Neglecting this blog for months has been quite an eye-opening discovery. If it falls out of my routine, it’s very hard for me to resume a task.

(2) Apparently, I am a ‘show-me-you-care’ kind of leader. There are different leadership styles, including analytical, assertive, and caring. I won’t delve into all the details of these categories, as different tests have different classifications, but my discovery was that I fall into the sensitive and emotional type, which is a fair representation of who I am. It has been helpful to understand my strengths and weaknesses, as this will affect my business decisions and relationships with colleagues.

(3) Seeing the Forest: A great thing about Toastmasters is that it’s a volunteering activity, so unlike work, you don’t have to deal with a difficult boss. This freedom of mind is valuable, especially in my case, as it helps me stay unemotional and rational in my interactions, allowing me to understand how different leadership styles interact.

These are just a few examples of the experiences that have kept me busy, so I hope to share more details in my upcoming posts. For now, I would like to announce that FinanceNerd is back, and I look forward to sharing my updates more regularly. Thank you for reading.